How To Help Digestive Issues

In the last blog post on how to improve digestion, I dove into the top digestive dysfunctions and many of them might be some of your concerns. How do we know how to help digestive issues? What are the common digestive problems?

As a functional nutrition therapy practitioner I can assess symptoms such as bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, and belching and support digestion as a whole to improve digestive discomfort and overall health. Here are some specific actions to help resolve your digestive issues.

Bloating

Bloating usually occurs in the upper GI and small intestines. If you experience bloating within 1 hour of eating, you might not be chewing your food enough, have enough stomach acid, and/or you might be enzyme deficient.

If you experience bloating 1-2 hours after eating or if you notice specific foods making you tired or bloated you may have food intolerances and the digestion further up in the GI system is affecting absorption and inflammation in the small intestines.

Regardless of etiology, bloating can be diminished by these simple steps to improve overall digestion:

1. Chew your food mindfully and slowly

2. Increase fermented food/cultured foods with your cooked and raw food meals to add more digestive enzymes

3. Take digestive bitters 15 min. before eating to jump start your digestive organs

4. Drink raw apple cider vinegar in a cup of water, or lemon juice in a cup of water, with a meal to improve stomach acidity to best breakdown proteins

5. Try eating more cooked food and smaller portions. Some people do not have the digestive fire to eat raw foods or large amounts of food.

6. Don't snack in between meals.

7. Eliminate excess sugar, refined food, and potential food allergens.

8. If you are taking antacid drugs, consult your provider, and consider discontinuing.

9. Practice eating in a relaxed stated.

10. Consider nutrient deficiencies in zinc and thiamin (B1).

Constipation

Many people do not know that they experience constipation. The ideal bowel movement should occur 1-3 times daily and should be well-formed but easy to pass. If you have bouts of constipation and diarrhea, maybe you don't go #2 for a whole day and then the next day you go 3 times, this is not ideal.

Toxins build up in bowels and are reabsorbed into the body during times of constipation. It can result from overall poor digestion in the upper GI, but also can be a symptom of small intestine dysfunction such as food allergies, dysbiosis, increased intestinal hyper-permeability (leaky gut) or parasites.

Following these simple steps can improve overall digestion and improve symptoms of constipation:

1. Chew your food mindfully and slowly

2. Increase fermented food/cultured foods with your cooked and raw food meals to add more digestive enzymes

3. Take digestive bitters 15 min. before eating to jump start your digestive organs

4. Drink raw apple cider vinegar in a cup of water, or lemon juice in a cup of water, with a meal to improve stomach acidity to best breakdown proteins

5. Increase whole food intake with fiber (veggies!), while eliminating excess sugar, refined food, and potential food allergens.

6. Improve hydration: make sure you are drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces of pure filtered or mineral water.

7. Increase probiotic foods or take a probiotic supplement.

8. Increase foods containing magnesium or take a magnesium supplement.

9. Consider a GAPS diet to rebalance your gut flora and heal the small intestine wall.

10. Exercise! 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3-4 times a wk, even walking is helpful!

Diarrhea

Diarrhea usually is a mild episode lasting a few days and is a way for the body to cleanse itself of irritants. If you experience chronic diarrhea, amounting to multiple times a week or frequently throughout the month, this could be a sign of an underlying condition.

Many causes of diarrhea include infections or overgrowth of bacteria, viruses, or parasites, use of medications causing increased motility, IBS, malabsorption, emotional stress, and food allergies. Diarrhea lends serious concern for dehydration, mineral loss, malabsorption, weight loss, or a more serious condition. Diarrhea should be assessed in-depth by a Functional Nutrition Therapy Practitioner to determine the origin or a medical physician to rule out serious diseases.

Regardless of origin, diarrhea can be reduced and calmed by overall support of the digestive system in these ways:

1. Chew your food mindfully and slowly

2. Increase fermented food/cultured foods with your cooked and raw food meals to add more digestive enzymes

3. Take digestive bitters 15 min. before eating to jump start your digestive organs

4. Drink raw apple cider vinegar in a cup of water, or lemon juice in a cup of water, with a meal to improve stomach acidity to best breakdown proteins

5. Increase whole food intake with fiber (veggies!), while eliminating excess sugar, refined food, and potential food allergens.

6. Improve hydration: make sure you are drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces of pure mineral water. Drink water with trace minerals in them to improve electrolyte loss.

7. Increase probiotic foods or take a probiotic supplement.

8. Consider a GAPS diet to rebalance your gut flora and heal the small intestine wall.

9. Consider if you are taking too much vitamin C or magnesium in the diet.

10. Consider taking enzymes, bentonite clay or chlorophyllins.

Belching or Gas

Both belching and gas one hour after a meal are strong indicators of digestive dysfunction of the stomach and pancreatic enzymes. If there is more of a delay after eating this may point more to enzyme dysfunction rather than hypo-chlorhydria (low stomach acid).

Proteins putrefy and carbohydrates ferment when pancreatic secretions in the small intestine are lacking, letting off the gas as a by-product. Belching and gas are typically associated with bloating of the abdomen, mid to lower.

By supporting the digestion from the top down we can help reduce/eliminate belching and gas by following these recommendations:

1. Chew your food mindfully and slowly

2. Increase fermented food/cultured foods with your cooked and raw food meals to add more digestive enzymes

3. Take digestive bitters 15 min. before eating to jump start your digestive organs

4. Drink raw apple cider vinegar in a cup of water, or lemon juice in a cup of water, with a meal to improve stomach acidity to best breakdown proteins

5. Try eating more cooked food and smaller portions. Some people do not have the digestive fire to eat raw foods or large amounts of food.

6. Don't snack in between meals.

7. Eliminate excess sugar, refined food, and potential food allergens.

8. If you are taking antacid drugs, consult your provider, and consider discontinuing.

9. Practice eating in a relaxed stated.

10. Consider nutrient deficiencies in zinc and thiamin (B1), or supplementing pancreatic enzymes or betaine HCl.